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FRAMED Review - A Game Is An Experience Not The Time

Framed is one of my anticipated games during 2014 and finally the wait is over. When the game popped out on the App Store last week, I got pretty excited and can't wait to try that game. Unfortunately, the exam week forbid me to write my impression as soon as possible here but I believe many of you already try that game. So for you who still on fence looking for some 'more' reasons to try the game or not, let me tell you the reasons why you shouldn't miss this game.

iOS Games costs pretty cheap and nobody can deny that. Each week so many one buck games along with freemium games. That's why when a new game come with quite 'high' price (more than a buck), some of you might think why should I try this game? is that worth? Framed is a game that costs $4.99 but to be honest you can't measure the worthiness of the game from one aspect only, especially the playtime. I read some reviews on the App Store said if this game wasn't worthy enough for that price and from the length of the game, it should be cost a buck only.

Come on, I'm already tired with all of this... After Monument Valley, now this one also? It's suck while you can buy a $500 device but you complain for something which costs similar with your $5 coffee. At least your coffee is a consumable thing, meanwhile you can keep the game on your device for'ever'. Okay enough for the introduction.

Framed is an interactive puzzle game. It's really brilliant, beautiful, and challenging enough to be described. It's a game where you'll play as a male thief then female thief also the cop. Wait a minute, do we control 3 characters at once? Of course no, Framed is a game which like watch a movie, where you'll be the director of it. Of course, there's already static script on it but we can watch how the 'actor' perform in each different action and it's too lovely to be missed out. I'm not saying if you should make everything wrongly but I think it's make sense for trying something 'fool' if you want to explore all possible experiences.

Framed isn't a game which can be played for a long time. It's not a game that had any skills to level up or somewhat. On Framed you'll move each 'comic' panel alike to change the story line. Basically your main goal here is to escape from the cops. You're a thief that's why you'll be the most wanted person and so many eyes looking for you. You must sneak slowly on every levels, so no one will notice you. In the beginning, you only need to swap the panel and let the 'movie' play by itself. Grab your popcorn and enjoy! As long as you play you will face more panels and the puzzle become more complex. All you need to do is arrange them so it'll guide your character safely to the next level.

Nah, here is the problem. The game might need some trial and error along with your imagination. In default, your character will move from left to the right, and from top to the bottom. However, the sequence might change when the game introduce you the new mechanic, the rotating 'panel'. Here where you can swap the panel position also rotate it. The rotation of each panel will affect the story line. It'll be different for each scenes. For example the stair picture can be used as 'truly stair' or as wall only, depends on how you set it as vertical or horizontal. Other example is the picture below, the first panel can be rotate to be like a vertical path or the horizontal one. Your character will move through the path, and it's your duty to predict where should you put the next panel which safe to be passed by your character.

The last mechanic is the 'double' sequence. I said that because unlike before, now you can use each of your comic panel more than twice. For example when your character need to escape from the train. She should hit the bag shelf and make the guard faint so you can steal the key from him. However for doing that, you need to place your previous frame (the one with an unconscious guard) as your next frame before the last one, so you can grab the key from him to open the door. It's really interesting and like I said it's like you're the one who experience with all of them, it's like you're watching movie and you're the director of that. I'm enjoying my trial and error so much, just want to see what might be happened next if I'm doing like that, how she/ he got caught or even probably he'll died o.o.

In conclusion, Framed is like a Monument Valley, a game that offers you an experience not a playtime and it's really brilliant to play a game like this. If you're looking for a game that sell an fresh enjoyable experience, you don't need to think twice grab this one for sure. However if playtime which made you concern about a game, you can skip this. This is an awesome game with great jazzy soundtrack and I wish there'll more innovation on mobile gaming in the future.

Graphics/ Sound: 4 out of 5Gameplay: 4.5 out of 5Game Control/ Mechanic: 5 out of 5Value: 4.5 out of 5Overall: 4.5 out of 5AppStore Link: FRAMED, $4.99

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About Yesi Livera

Yesi is someone who love to talk about games. Mainly she plays games on mobile especially iOS. However, sometimes she can't resist with PC gaming too. She also like to share her opinions about what's going on on gaming industry. Thank you for visiting, keep calm and stay gaming.